Pretty Farmer
by PriestessAmy13
Summary: Billy lives his normal life and then he comes to find that he has to take care of the family's old farm.It seems like a total drag, but then Billy meets this girl.She seems perfect, but the town seems to think otherwise.What could be wrong with her past?
1. A normal dayOr is it the beginning?

It was like any other day since Billy had come to own the old family farm. Ever since his parents had died, the role of taking care of the farm had fallen into Billy's hands. He had a sister, but apparently she was the one that had a "real job" and all Billy had was a job as a pizza boy who spent all his money on pizza.

"I guess it won't be that bad. It's not like I had much to live for in the city anyway," he thought as he patted his dog, Riku's, head.

The small sheepdog only looked at him with that small doggy smile. It was like he knew exactly what to say, in a sense.

As he hoed the ground in front of him, a thought came to Billy. "Darn it, I didn't buy any seeds while I was up at that store," he moaned into the open air. "You'll have to take care of the farm Riku," he smiled. As if knowing what he was saying, the dog ran to the gate and sat down in watch dog mode. "That's a good boy." He then walked past the dog and headed into town.

He didn't know it, but this is where his whole adventure would begin and life for him and the rest of the town would totally change.

**a/n: this is my second fanfic and I still need all the help I can get. Review and tell me what you think. Ideas and flames are welcome, but please let the criticizme be helpful, not hurtful. Thanks!**

**Billy:What's with the cliff hanger?**

**Amy: You'll find out. Besides this whole story is about you, so don't worry it will be fine.**


	2. What the hell is wrong with you guys?

"What can I get for you today, Billy?" Jeff asked after he had walked in.

"I just need the regular stuff. I need a few bags of seeds, but I don't have that much money."

"I know the farmer way of life. It was the same way for your mom and dad when they showed up. He came in here almost every day beggin for seeds and promising to pay me back later-"

"Here you goe, Billy," Karen smiled behind her father. She had been standing in the sun which made her hair shine all the bringhter while her father had been talking. She now threw a bag of seeds at him that she had been unpacking.

"Karen!" Her father moaned.

"Don't be so mean Jeff," his wife Shasha smiled at her husband. "I'm sure that Billy will be able to pa us back in no time. If you need any help, you just talk to me, Billy," she smiled. "Jeff was always a-"

"As I was going to say," he interrupted. "You can have a few things to help out, but don't make a habit of it," he tried to smile.

Billy surpressed a laugh as Jeff packed a few more things in a bag for him before getting ready to walk out the door. Then he saw her standing in the doorway.

Her hair was cut short and a deep red. Her clothes were simple, but to Billy there was nothing more beautiful she could have worn. Her light blue eyes looked passed him toward something on the shelf.

"What the hell is she doing back here?" Billy heard Karen muttered uneder her breath. Billy turned to look at her and for a moment Karen didn't look so pretty. She had a look of pure vemon in her eyes and it was aimed directly at the girl in front of him.

She walked past him, not even noticing as his eyes followed her. She then picked up a few items and proceeded to pay for them. Jeff didn't look at her. He only stared down at what he was working on and then put htem in a bag and thrust it toward her. There were no words exchanged between them. It was like she expected this.

She headed toward the door and something came over Billy. He wanted to reach out to her and tell her that there was someone who wanted to talk to her.

Like she felt his intention, the girl looked at him with her light blue eyes. There was loneliness and sorrow in those eyes. She then turned away and walked out the door.

When she was gone, he finally spoke,"Who was that girl. I may have not lived here long, but I know I've never seen her before." He was barely able to speak more then a whisper.

"You don't pay any attention to her. She's just trouble and a wonderful boy like you shouldn't be getting involved with her," Sasha said bitterly. Billy had never heard her talk like that before.

"But-"

"Don't worry about it Billy. In the next few days you'll hear all you need to know about her," Karen said as she pushed in out the door of the store and closed it, locking it behind her.

"What could be wrong with one girl?" he asked the empty street.

As he walked home in silence, Billy couldn't stop thinking about the girl with light blue eyes. Even in the city, there had never been a girl like that, much less a girl like that in this town.

Sure, there were plently of beautiful women in the town, but they were either married, dating someone, not interested, or too old for him. Karen was one of these girls, she had been dating Rick for almost three years and everyone know that he was going to ask her to marry him in time. It just seemed like there was no one here for Billy.

When he was back on the farm, billy found Gotz working on the house. Even though he lived alone, Billy had always wanted a house that would provide him room. In the city, that was just a dream, but because of Gotz he would have a large home in no time.

"You went into town and i thought that I would just start working. Did you get anything interesting," Gotz inquired. He seemed more friendly the usual, something had to be up.

"Just the same old stuff, seeds and toast. The only food I can cook with out burning," he laughed.

"That's why you need a wife, Bill. I've seen you cook and only a woman could help you now. I'm sure on of woman in town would be willing to cook for you. What about the lovely Miss Elli?" he smiled.

"I told you, Gotz. She's married to Doctor. It would seem strange if I was looking at his wife all through dinner. Besides, you don't have a wife either," he poked at Gotz as he dropped the bag down on the ground.

"I know how to cook. You would die without toast or the kindness of the townsfolk. Did anything new happen in town recently?" he asked suddenly. "I haven't been in town in almost three days because I've been slaving away for you," he gaufed.

"Nothing with the townsfolk, but something happened while I was a the store. There was this girl and-" he suddenly stopped. He couldn't even describe how lovely he thought she was and he didn't even know her name. He only knew that she was amazing and he wanted to find out who she was.

"A new girl in town. What did she look like?" Gotz seemed interested. It wasn't every day that a stranger came to the familiar town of Harvest Moon.

He tried to describe her the best that he could, but it didn't seem good enough. He had described what she looked like, but it seemed like something was missing.

"She sounds familiar. I think that I may have met her before. I thik her name was Naomi. From what I remember she's a real beauty, but had a troubled past. Beautfiul though," he smiled as he continued to happily saw away.

"But Gotz-"

"No talk, I need to work now," he grumbled. That was the Gotz that Billy knew. Then it came to him. He had learned her name, Naomi. It was a wonderful name for a wonderful looking girl.

"Now I just need to talk to her," he thought. All these feelings in his head were making him dizzy and then he just fell to the ground where Riku came over and began to lick his face.

"Riku, can't I dream for a minute?!" he laughed through the dog kisses.

Riku only pulled at his pants leg in reply. He finally managed to pull Billy up when Billy noticed that Popuri was running into his yard, chasing after a chicken, of course.


	3. Chickens rule, but who is she! Never!

**a/n: First off I have to say, thank you so much for everybody that reviewed! This is the first time that anyone has taken the time to write to me about my story! I would be nothing without you guys! Also, please tell me if you think that anything is wrong with the story, besides my grammer, I know I suck! Also it's too late to change Naomi to Nami, so sorry if you get messed up. I'm not worthy! If you have ideas, I'm open. Again thank you!**

"I see that you're chicken escaped agian," Billy laughed when he finally sat down. It had taken a while to catch the little critter and Gotz had been rolling and laughing the whole time.

"Yeah, but I still love him!" she cried out as she squeezed the chicken in her arms like a little girl hugging her favorite toy. "So what's up with you Billy? You seem kind of distracted," she noticed as he looked past her at the gate to his farm.

"Just a lot of things. I was thinking about home and stuff and then there was this girl-"

"You mean that girl, Naomi? She's really cool, but I don't think that you'll have to worry about her. She's really nice once you get to know her and I'm sure that she'll love you," she beamed.

"You mean you know who she is? You have to tell me!" He suddenly yelled, jumping to his feet.

"It's not my secret to tell. Like I said, she is a great person, but she's really private about her life. You should ask her yourself, you scaredy cat," she laughed, pushing his shoulder.

"Chickens are the best animals every," he said, trying to butter her up.

"That isn't going to work this time. I told you everything I knew last time you used that and I ended up getting in big trouble. You wouldn't believe how mad Ann got when I told you that she had been following you around." She put the chicken on the ground and then made a motion like she was locking up her mouth and throwing away the key.

"Please, Popuri, you have to help me!" he begged.

"No, if you want to find out about her, you have to ask her. I'm one of the only people in the town that actually like her and I won't betray her trust. Let's go, Lily," Popuri giggled, picking up the chicken.

"But-"

"No," she said somely. She then walked through the gate in the direction of her farm.

"What does this town have against a girl that just showed up?" he mused.

"I have to get going Billy. It's getting dark and the forest critters will be coming out soon. See you later," Gotz grinned as he rubbed his sweaty brow.

"That's fine, I'll see you later,Gotz," he waved. Picking up Riku, Billy walked into the almost finished house. A slight breeze blew through the house, but Billy didn't feel it. His thoughts were focused on thoughts of the girl called Naomi.

"Riku, what do you think I should do?" he asked the small dog in his arms. His only response was to lick his arm. "Thanks, that really helps," he said sarcastically. He looked at his bed and saw that there was something sitting there.

It looked to be a piece of folded up paper. Along the sides were water marks like someone had just been walking in the water before they had delivered the note. Billy picked it up, wondering what it could be.

"Many fear her fate, while others fear for her life. Are you willing to find out what her life means so that you can save it?" it said in a riddle like form.

"What is this?" Billy wondered.

As he played with it in his hands, it began to disappear before his eyes. Within moments it was like the note had never been real.

"I must be more tired then I thought," Billy said to himself. "I'll see you in the morning, Riku," he smiled at the small dog. All he heard were the sounds of snores from the animal before he too fell asleep.


	4. The Grave of Wisteria

Billy had slept well through the night, but his dreams had been as strange as the previous day. In the dream images of the beautiful Naomi flashed through his head. She held in her hand the note that had come and disappeared in front of him. Dark shadows surrened her and pulled her into the dark void that encircled him.

He then suddenly woke up as he flet something wet on his face. It was Riku licking his face.

"Riku, you have to stop doing that. For all I know you're the one that is causing me to have these weird dreams," he smiled half heartedly. He knew that his faithful pet had nothing to do with this, but that didn't clear his mind.

"If something is bothering you that much, you should go see Carver. He could tell you what you could do or at least ask the goddess for guidence," the wood cutter said.

BIlly pulled the sheets up around his tired form. He hadn't seen Gotz when he had opened his eyes.

Gotz laughed fully. "Don't worry, boy. You have everything that I've seen before. Besides you sleeping in your underwear doesn't interest me that much."

"Maybe I will go see Carver," he said more to himself then Gotz as he pulled on his pants.

"It sounds like a reasonable thing to me. He knows the answer to people's questions. Maybe if you were lucky, he could help you out with your quest that has to do with Miss Naomi. Did you ever learn anything about the lass?"

"Not really. Popuri seemed to know somethings about her, but she wouldn't tell me. It sounds like she didn't something that the people don't find so pleasing. You wouldn't happen to know, would you?" He looked at him pleadingly.

"She was around only when I was in other towns working on houses. I only met her a few times, but I never learned much about her past. She isn't easy to get close to if you know what I mean."

"Thanks for the help anyway. I'd better get going. I have to water the crops before Carver gets to the church." He waved as he walked out of the almost finished house. In only another days time the house would be finished and he would have room for the new fireplace, among other things as the women of the town had told him.

In almost a flash the farm was watered. It looked like it had flooded when he was finished, but Billy wasn't worried about that right now. He wanted to get to the church to see Carver.

"And my parents had said that I had no focus," he smiled to himself. It had been a while since he had thought about his parents. Since they had died, he had tried not to think about it. It now felt like it had been a million years ago. He even felt like he didn't have a sister because she had been too busy to talk to him since he had arrived.

Billy finally arrived at the church after what felt like a lifetime. The doors were still locked so Carver wasn't here yet. That was a bonus. He now had time to think out what he was going to say to Carver.

"I had a dream, a mysterious note about this girl!" sounded like the ranting of a crazy man. There had to be some way to explain the strange behavior of the towns folk around the sad woman.

Billy walked around to the side of the church in the direction of the cemetary. Mist rolled across the ground creating a serene, but still creepy, atmosphere. The graves seemed to groan as a slightbreeze blew Billy's hair into his face.

Suddenly Billy heard the sound of someone weeping close by. Near a tree was a dark figure, kneeling next to a grave. The only thing that Billy recognized was the flaming hair that he had come to know as Naomi. What was she doing in the cemetary crying when the world was bright and there were things to do.

Billy silently stepped closer, trying to be quiet so that she would not leave as she had at the store when he had seen her before. This didn't end as he had hoped, for she turned to him and her icy blue eyes burned right into him.

This time she wasn't wearing the clothes that he had seen her in only the day or so before. Naomi looked like a goth angel that had come to collect his soul in this holy place. She wore a black dress and the eyeliner that she had been wearing was now running down her angled face. Yet in his eyes there was still something about her.

"Naomi, are you alright?" he finally said, plucking up the courage in the depths of his soul.

She glared at him for a moment before she spoke, "I'm fine. It's none of your business what's wrong with me if I wasn't. This is a grave site you know. People are allowed to cry," she sighed before getting up.

"I know that. You just seemed so upset. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay." He blushed slightly when he realized how sappy he sounded.

"Well, I'm fine and I don't need to prove it to you, do I?" she was now standing on her feet. Billy noticed how short she seemed compared to him.

"No-" he tried to say before leaning down to pick up something that Naomi had dropped. He looked up and her back was retreating from the grave and she didn't look like she could be stopped.

Puzzled, Billy looked at what she had dropped. It was a small bloom that seemed to have come off of a wisteria tree. It's purple blooms flet soft in his hands. He then looked down at the grave Naomi had been kneeling in front of.

It was a tiny gravestone that looked like it was old enough to have been put down when his parents had died. Around it grew a small vine of wisteria. There was no date just a small name.

As he leaned down to look at the name, Billy heard someone say something behind him. As a shadow fell over his back, Billy read the name, Adrienne.

**Billy: Why are you doing this to me? I want to see Naomi!**

**Amy: I'm sorry Billy, but we have to build up. Don't you ever read romance novels?**

**Billy: If I did, I wouldn't be in this mess. I wouldn't be talking to you and me and Naomi would be-**

**Amy: Quiet you. Keep on reading and Billy. I promise that you won't have to whine soon.**

**Billy: How can I trust you?**

**Amy:Silence! **


	5. Half of a Past

"Billy what are you doing out here so early?" a voice asked as Billy got up.

Billy turned around and saw that it was the pastor, Carver. He looked happy in the morning sun as the small breeze flew through his blonde hair. Even in his age of around thrity, he looked young.

"I was meaning to come talk to you about something. I was told that you could help me out with a problem." Billy looked into the pastor's eyes as he dusted off his pants. His eyes weren't focused on Billy, but the small grave that he had just been kneeling at.

"I'll try and help you. If I can't, I'm sure that the Harvest Goddess would know better then me. It's so sad that life is struck down at such a young age," he said suddenly. "Would you like to come inside," he said randomly.

"Yes, that would be great. Do you know who's grave that is?" he questioned as they walked inside the church.

"It's the grave of a young child named Adrienne. That's all I'm allowed to say for the family's privacy. You have to understand that it's a terrible thing to lose a child. Now, please, let's talk about what's bothering you and get off of this grim topic." He led the young farmer to the front of the church. "What is it that seems to be troubling you?" he asked kindly.

"It has to do with this girl that I met. I don't know what to do about it. She's amazing and I just met her, but I don't know anything about her. I was hoping that you knew something about her. Maybe even shed some light on this note that I found," he droned on.

"That does sound like something. Like, I said, I'll try and help as much as I can. May I ask the young lady's name?"

"She''s the new girl that just came to town, Naomi. You've been living in the town for awhile from what I've heard and I thought that you would know something about her." His tone changed as he saw Carver's face. He looked pale as the blood drained from his face.

"I do know her. She was a good friend of mine when I was a younger pastor. She knew many things about life and the world around us. She wanted to become a dancer in her youth and she came to this town to begin training. She stayed longer then she would have hope and then she suddenly left. I did miss her very much, but you say that she has come back?" His face looked intently at Billy's.

"Yeah, she sounds amazing. I have thought this all along, but why is it that the people seem to think so darkly of her. Karen and almost everyone else is either afraid of her, a lonely friend, or thinks that she is the devil."

"She wasn't also hated so. She used to be loved by all the town because she brought news of a changing world. Things that seemed to bigger then life and that excited the people. Then something happened to her that the people found shameful. How it got out, I will never know, but it did happen. After that she tried to live her, but things just got worse. People began to shun her and she had few friend that stood by her side. She then, I guess couldn't stand it anymore and left us. I'm surprised that she has returned. Then again she must still be the brave woman I remember." He smiled warmly as he thought of the woman that had been his friend so long ago. The paleness in his face was gone and now replaced by warmth.

"What is it that happened to her? I know that something horrible had happened and you have shed more light on the subject, but what happened to her?" he asked, discouraged.

"I was involved with her life, but I can't tell you about things that have long passed unless she allows it. I am sorry, but you should seek the lady in question out and ask her. On the matters of being in love with her, I think that you should talk to her. She is a beautiful woman and she has had a hard life. She is in need of friends in a world that is so cruel. I wish you luck," he smiled.

"Is it just me or are all the people of this town more confusing then helpful?" he laughed grimly. Things weren't working out to his advantage. The whole point of talking to others was to find out things about her without having to face his fear and speak face to face with her. After seeing her in the grave yard, things didn't seem too good.

Carver laughed softly at his commment. "It's not just the people that are confusing. We have been taught by the goddess that people are ment to learn things on their own. If you really want to find out more about Naomi, you will. I will try to help you if I can, but that is all. I can't get her to like you and neither can the goddess. She can only control what is ment to be."

"Do you know at least where she's been staying? If everyone has something against her, where would she go?" Billy chose the question carefully. Carver was beginning to look nervous again.

"She spends her time in the bar from what I remember about her. Though she is a creative girl," he mused. "I would check the beach and places like that. Ones that let the imagination run wild. I hope that you will succeed in your quest," he smiled.

Billy hadn't even noticed, but the whole time they had been talking, Carver had been pushing him closer to the door until he was forced outside into the warm Spring air.

"The beach and other places." He rolled the thoughts around in his mind until another word came to his tongue. "Mother's Hill where the people watch the moon."

It was the most beautiful place in town. If she didn't go there for creative help, then she would have left the town.

Billy began to jog in the direction of the woods that would lead to the Hills. He had never had such a strong feeling in his gut like he did now. She had to be there and if she wasn't then he had to be going insane. There was something about her and this town that was doing something to him. It seemed to be bringing something out in him. He had never done things like this when he lived in the city.

"Hey Billy! What are you doing, standing in the middle of the road?" a voice yelled from behind him.

Being in his train of thought, Billy had stopped in the middle of the road. He turned and saw that it was Karen. She was wearing the stunning outfit that was her style. The afternoon sun made her face glow as she laughed at the dazed look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I was going up to Mother's Hill and I guess I got sidetracked. What are you doing up here?" he smiled. Even though she was with Rick, Karen had a way of flirting with Billy and making him feel all warm inside. Though it was nothing compared to Naomi.

"That's so cool! I love going up there. You can see the whole town. Me and Rick go up there all the time. He proposed to me up there," she flashed the engagement ring at him.

"When are you two getting married? You've been engaged for a while now," he observed.

"Rick thinks that if we wait for a while his dad will come home. He wants him to be here when we get married, but I think that we'll get married sooner then later. We've been talking and I could be on my honeymoon by the end of summer." She swirled in a circle and looked like the bride she would be.

"That's great. I guess I had better leave you to your planning. I have somethings that need to be done today." He waved and began running up the path before another word could come out of her mouth.

"That was a bit rude to run off, but I have to get up the Hill to see if Naomi is there. For all I know, she's already left," he thought aloud. He had a way of talking to himself and that was one of the reasons that Gotz thought he was so funny.

By the time he reached the top of the Hill, Billy was out of breath. He fell to the ground in a form of exaustion. He tried to look around at the field of flowers that had begun to grow in the warmth of Spring. As he mused at the lovely flowers, a bit of red caught his eye and he was up in a flash.

There sat Naomi with a pencil and notebook in her hand. She looked compeletly obsorbed in the flower as her delicate hands sketched.


	6. Dark Red

She didn't move as he came up behind her. She only saw the flower before her as it began to come to life in the notebook.

She was even bent over as the flower was. Both at angles the looked sad and lonely. Her face looked tired as she tried to make the shape of heart that was a leaf. As she turned her head, Billy sat down in silence.

"You sure are persistant, aren't you?" she smiled slightly. It warmed a place in BIlly's heart to see the smile that was so rare to others.

"I was just-" he tried to make up a reason for why he was here. He had come to find her here so tecnically she was right. He was persistant.

"I guess since you're here you should sit down or something. It's not like I care. Most of the people here tend to back away from me like I'm the plague. I guess talking to one person won't be too horrible. Don't expect me to be polite though," she snickered softly to herself, enjoying the private joke.

He said nothing as he sat down. Shock overcame in. She seemed so private, but she was inviting him into her space.

"Don't look like I did you a big favor," Naomi snapped, as if reading his mind. She quicly turned away from him and started looking at the flower again.

Billy peeked over her shoulder to look at the drawing. It was a delicate picture of a light blue flower. It was sketched as if she were afraid of ruining it by coloring too dark.

It was so delicate, he wanted to reached out and touch it. He didn't notice that his hand wasn't going toward the flower, but Naomi's dark red hair.

She only looked on, not noticing his hand that had suddenly stopped in mid air above her.

"What am I doing?" Billy asked himself. His hand began to move again and this time it didn't stop until he reached out and touched a strand of dark red hair.

**Amy: Sorry about this part being so short. I've been having a case of writer's block, but I still have to get things out for you guys. Now that school is out, you'll probably be seeing more of it. At least I hope.**

**Billy: Yay! hugs Amy I got to touch Naomi's hair! It's so soft! Yay! happy dance.**

**Amy: I told you I would take care of you. You doubted me.**

**Billy: Never again, Amy. bows down to Amy.**

**Amy: Alright, that's enough. I have to go get working on this story.**

**Billy: Is there anything I can get you? I know, Owy Gooie Buttercake!**

**Amy:bows down and starts crying THANK YOU!**


	7. Her Story Part 1

Billy's hand was now resting on the strand of dark red hair that had just seemed to fall into his hands when he had reached for it. At the moment Naomi wasn't looking at him, she was again concentrating on the picture that she had been working on so hard.

This didn't seem to last long because her head whipped around and the hair flew out of his grasp. His hand stood empty in the mid air, but she didn't seem to notice.

"What is it with you? Is it something that you want from me because if you've heard something about me-"

"No, that's the problem. I've never heard anything about you from almost anyone. That's the problem. I've never seen you before now and now I see you all the time. I asked people about you and they don't seem to want to me anything at all. And what they did say was something that I could't understand. I just want to get to know you is all." He looked down at the ground again. He didn't want her to see the bright blush that had fallen across his tan cheeks.

He heard something fall to the ground and saw that her notebook now lay abandoned on the ground next to her legs. His eyes slowly shifted up and he saw that her blue eyes were again focused on him again.

"You're really that persistant? You want to know things about me? Why is that? I mean, do you want to know why I was shamed into leaving this town and then I felt like I had to come back for the same reason? It's not something stupid like making the wrong choice of getting a job or something like that. It's a really deal." Her blue eyes shone more as they seemed to fill up with tears. It was like she wasn't even there, but somewhere far away in the past.

"Well, if you're that upset about it. You don't have to tell me. I mean really. I've had things happen in my life that people don't know about. I've had horrible things happen, but I don't tell people about them just because they asked. So if you don't want to-"

"Like I've said. You're the only person that seems to want to talk to me. The whole town seemes to think that they can just treat me like crap. Maybe you're a bit different. I'll see about that. If I tell you, I'm sure that you'll show your true colors and have nothing to do with me if you really have a brain. Maybe you'll give up that fantasy that I think you may have in your head."

"It's not just some little fantasy. I really think that I feel something for you," he almost yelled, as if to prove it. He then looked down again like a child that had gotten in trouble on the playground. He tried to catch a glance of her, expecting Naomi to have run off, but she hadn't. She remained rooted to the spot and there was a fresh blush on her face.

"Well, we'll see then won't we?" she asked the open air. She pushed her hair back and tried to find her conposure. "I lived in this city a number of years ago...

'It was a time when I was younger. I was still only a young girl and my hair was much lighter then it is now. I knew alot of the people here and may of them did like me. I had a part-time job in the church working for Carver.'

'He let me do things like pull weeds in the graveyard and clean up the church. Just the kind of things that you would do to make a little bit of extra money. He was really kind about it. He would even help me out with the work sometimes. It was quite funny really.'

'He became my best friend in a sense. He was at least one of the people that knew me as well as Popuri did. The rest of town liked me at that time, but Popuri and I both had free spirits and I worked with Carver so of course we clicked.'

'He liked to thank people for the work that they did. It didn't matter who the person was. He was just happy that they were willing to help him keep the church looking nice. It's too bad that he didn't keep his house as clean,' she laughed in the middle of the story before beginning again. 'I wasn't very good at cooking so he would invite me over and make me dinner. It was a very nice thing for him to do even though I only saw him when I was working.'

'We began to hand around outside of work. I even went to church a few times to see him preach even though I didn't care much for it.'

'I think that's where people began to think differently of me. It was when they began to wonder what it was that I wanted out of a relationship with the local preacher. He actually cared for me and I valued him as a friend and only Popuri and Carver seemed to believe that. They didn't understand how I could be be friends with a holy man. The longer I was with him, the more complex things became until one day at the end of summer after I had been there a few years.'

**A/N:**

**Sorry I've been gone for so long! I've been having writer's block, but I hope that I can start working on this story again. I just had to think of the right time for Naomi to begin to tell her tale. That and I had to think of what will happen after Billy hears it. Still a slight work in progress, but I'm going to work on it. So please stay tuned!**

**Billy: Gosh Amy! I've been sitting here for months! I've grown a beard.**

**Amy: And you never brought my owie googey buttercake!**

**Billy: runs for the hills.**


	8. A Tender Moment

' There was so much that I learned from Carter over time. He was my best friend and I knew that I could talk with him about anything. I liked to think that he felt the same way. That day I found out.'

We were out working in the little garden behind the church. By now, I think it has fallen into ruin, but then it was so beautiful. I could spend hours there with only Carter for company. That's beside the point, let me continue.

So he was out in the garden with me. If I remember right, I was planting some carrots. I was hoping to get a bit better at cooking and knew that Carter loved them.'

"Naomi, you really should come in. It looks like it's going to rain. You don't want to get all wet."

I hadn't noticed, but he was right. The sky was getting darker, but something just told me that I had to get these carrots planted or I wouldn't have the chance for a long time. It just seemed so important at the time.

"I'll come in in a little bit. You have to let me have this little bit of peace," I smiled. Every since he had become my friend, I smiled so much more.

He looked at me with a worried face.

"Will you let me help you then? I wouldn't want you get sick over a little thing like a garden."

I motioned to him to sit beside me. I must have looked like a grandmother would, out in the garden with her grandson. I had huge gloves on and my hair was blowing around my face, covered in dirt and grim. I didn't even notice the blush that was coming across Carter's face as I took the seeds in my hands.

Then it just happened. He kissed me. I know that I'm not a beautiful girl, so I didn't know why he would be doing that. I didn't mind it either though. It was sweet and so was he.

I was such a young girl then. Who would have seen the future that was in store when Carter kissed me in the garden?'


End file.
